Hand it Over to God

It’s been a minute since I got down on my hands and knees and prayed to God. Full on said, “Please take this, I can’t do this on my own.” Of course, He knew that the whole time, and I don’t think I was consciously trying to handle it all myself, but at least I finally realized that I needed to turn it over to Him.

“It” can be molded into whatever you’re battling with at the current moment. “It” could be something small, “it” could be something big. “It” could be life or death, or it could just feel like that’s the case at the time. I’ve prayed for small things (passing math tests) and I’ve prayed for big things (healing my son’s heart). I’ve prayed out loud, I’ve prayed in silence. But as I said it had been awhile since I fully just said “take this.” And you know what? It didn’t matter that I had been trying to hold onto it and go it alone. 1 Peter 5:6-7: “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you at the proper time, 7 casting all your cares on him, because he cares about you.” And guess what? He cares about you if it’s been a week, or a day, or a year. Even if it’s your first time praying.

I’m a control freak (no surprise there to those who know me). I also am a people pleaser and a “yes” girl. If you ask me to do it, I will say yes and I will get it done, even if it’s the 5000th thing on my to-do list for the day. I don’t like to ask for help, I’m a terrible delegator. In the aforementioned situation, I know you are thinking it, so I’ll say it. Was I not present for the last two years’ worth of “21 Days of Prayer” at our church? Is the major tagline for that sermon series not “Pray First?” It is. And I was there. But sometimes in the midst of everyday life you forget that YOU ARE NOT A BURDEN TO GOD. My control-freak-people-pleasing nature has led me to believe a lot of the time that my problems are not as important as other people’s problems and that He can help those folks if he’s not busy with my shenanigans. But that’s not true at all. I forget that I do I not have to go to bat for myself, because He wants to help me: “Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” (Romans 12:19).

As for the situation at hand, He has already placed people in my life that have eased my mind and helped me to understand that this isn’t all on me. That not only will He be beside me, but He has placed Godly, wonderful people alongside me. He also helped to ease my mind about the situation and reveal that it was really nothing serious to begin with.

Sometimes, it takes a good cry, a good call out to Him to remind yourself that what the Scriptures say is true. And you just need a gentle reminder of the feeling of the floor under your knees to remind you that you’re finally doing what you should have been doing in the first place: Pray First.